The Island of the Knights
by serpentmaster13
Summary: When Mario flies to a large island surrounded by hurricanes and whirlpools (you know, like you do,) he expects to make his summer exiting. He gets more than he bargained for, when Luigi get carried off by ravenous fire-breathing animals that can somehow cause cancer. Will Mario be able to free his brother... with his new-found abilities?
1. Chapter 1

**New Story! not that anyone seems to know or care...**

**I really do appreciate reviews, or I would If I would ever get any. I'm sorry if that sounds selfish, but I really feel like no one cares about me or my stories. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mario, Luigi Daisy or Peach, They are owned by Nintendo.**

* * *

"Why are we staying here?" Peach whispered fiercely to Mario as the two unpacked their bags.

"Oh come on Peach, a huge island isn't surrounded by hurricanes and whirlpools form nothing, besides the people are friendly. I want it to be an adventure this summer, and the easiest way to start an adventure is to fly a plane into a hurricane. You never know what will happen next!" Mario answered.

"I agree with Mario on that one!" Daisy called from the next room. "You might find a place where dinosaurs are still alive, be rescued by two people who are either half fish or made of fire,"

"Okay but-" Peach tried to intervene, but Daisy wasn't done yet.

"You could get transported to a whole new world and help a raccoon to make boats and stuff, ooh or you could get eaten by a giant monster who swallows the sea and spits it out again while her sister picks the men of your ship with her seven heads, and-"

"Don't you die in that scenario?" Luigi cut in from the other room with Daisy. "There are way too many ways to die. You could get eaten and die, be thrown through the air and die, or drown and die, get eaten by the dinosaurs and die, get eaten by sharks and die, maybe before you drowned-in that case you're already dead!"

"Yeah yeah yeah there's an awful lot of ways to die, we get it." Daisy retorted. "Don't worry Peachy, everything will be fine and dandy just you wait."

* * *

"So this is your first time on the island?" Asked Tammy at the breakfast table. "That almost never happens, where pretty isolated."

"Yeah we arrived here last night." Mario explained. The party had arrived late the night before Tammy had let them stay in a cottage she had rented out. All four of them were too tired to unpack at the time, and hit the hay. The young teen seemed somewhat lonely, and enjoyed the foursome's company.

"Well, then, I guess I have to tell you how things run here before we go out to get breakfast." Tammy said.

"Tell away," Luigi replied.

"So the usual things are illegal, and you can't go within the castle gates unless there is a public or private invitation. The beach to the right of the front of the castle in infested with giant lobsters so don't go over there. The beach way out in front of the castle isn't a beach it's a port so don't go there. The beach to the left of the front of the castle tends to be super crowded so don't go there. Don't leave town, it's just boring farmlands, and beyond that the rancid woods, and that's pretty much it for the rules."

"I like this girl!" Daisy hooted, "Quick and to the point. Now lets go shop for breakfast!"

"But I still have questions," Peach started. "Many many questions."

"I'll answer them on the way." Tammy said. She was already slipping out the door. Mario started to heave himself out of his chair when Tammy's head poked around the door as it opened a crack suddenly. He fell back in his chair, startled.

"Oh and if the dragons attack, just run around and scream. You know, like you do." She said, and disappeared as suddenly as she had reappeared.

For a moment no one moved or spoke. Even Daisy was still as they all tried to process what exactly Tammy had said. Finally, Peach cleared her throat.

"Well, lets go find out what that meant, shall we?"

* * *

The foursome of newbies followed Tammy through the marketplace. She twisted and turned between the crowds from stall to stall, picking up food to restock her stock with goodies. By the time any of the foursome could reach her, Tammy was gone, off to the next stall. It was like trying to catch a kangaroo who's conscious thought you were going end the world starting with that particular marsupial's soul.

Mario watched Tammy the same way he would if he was Meowrio, a predator stalking his prey. Although in all his hunts along side his bro and fiance, never had his target moved so sporadically. Only a huge throng of people kept Tammy from weaving as wildly as she did earlier, but she did surge through the crowd quite effectively. It took some time until Tammy was satisfied with her view of the main event. Mario and his posse finally caught up with her near the heart of a throng of booing hissing pedestrians.

"About time," She said annoyed.

You didn't exactly make it easy to keep up with you," Luigi retorted.

. "No, I meant it's about time they executed him." Tammy said, pointing to the center of all the attention. A young boy who looked about fifteen years old knelt before a guillotine. A person in a uniform with clear authority burned a withering gaze into the teen's back.

"That dirty boy has been pillaging the marketplace for so long and hard they had to call in the Knights to capture him."

"Knights?" Mario asked.

"They protect the people from the dragons." Tammy explained, although she raised more questions then answers.

"And they are finally doing their job." Yelled another man from Tammy's side.

"How is executing this kid protecting you from the _Dragons?"_ Peach asked.

"He's a spy, that's how." A woman at Peach's side hissed.

"As cool as that sounds, how in the world would that happen?" Daisy asked. "Communication, is all that spys are about, yet how would a dragon communicate with this boy?"

"You never know, but those beasts are not natural." The same woman spat. "They can breathe fire, cause cancer, control people's minds and their dung has the absolute worst smell ever."

"Wait, there's how can they cause cancer?" Peach asked. "

I don't know, but it happened to my sister." The woman said bitterly. " Every time those ravenous reptiles raided and ransacked the town, one would visit her. For a whole month it invaded my sisters home. It when she told me about it, she said she thought it was concerned. When I was with that dragon, there was no evidence of the 'knowing' eyes she had told of.

"What did you do?" Peach asked, keeping her eyes on the stage as a bag was slipped over the boy's head.

The woman snorted. "I told the Knights. They had had other people visited by dragons during raids before. Folks other than my sister whose minds had been altered by those overgrown lizards, and some of them hadn't been. All of them had developed life threatening conditions. My sister was diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. No thanks to those brutes and their ally here." her voice was laced with hatred and disgust.

"But you even have proof of spy activity!" Mario argued, his panic growing as the guillotine was raised.

"We don't need proof." Tammy replied. "We must be as safe as possible from those demons."

"No!" Daisy cried as the rope slipped through the executioners' hands…

and the whole stand was blown to pieces; from the impact of something quite large.

A large burgundy dragon had flattened the execution stage. It was easily the size of the structure where Mario and friends had stayed the night, and It's scales gleamed menacingly in the sunlight. In a huge front tallon it firmly gripped the boy. A tail five horse lengths long swept the ground behind it.

The massive animal reared and roared, and that's when the sky imploded.


	2. Chapter 2

**HEY YO all! Sorry no uploads for long time. I am afraid that I _actually_ have a life outside of story telling: like being a thirteen year old girl... yeah, ... MIND BLOWN!**

**Disclaimer: Mario, Peach Luigi and Daisy are owned by Nintendo. MIND BLOWN! aaah!**

* * *

The streets erupted into screams. Mario looked around frantically, but the dragons were everywhere. Many landed on the streets, which were wide enough to accommodate two of the beasts if they stood side by side. Twenty of them would have fit comfortably in the main square with the guillotine, had it not been full of screaming, scrambling crowds. The maroon dragon stood on the stage, surveying the chaos it and it's fleet had brought. The boy it held flailed feebly in it's talons. Mario was static as the beast raised it's already unfurled wings and took off into the sky to hover by a group of five other dragons. It held up the boy, still squirming, to a smaller dragon a green so dark it was almost black. It nodded toward the maroon dragon, and the brute flew off, with the boy in his claws. Mario couldn't suppress a pang of pity; pity that quickly turned to fear as the dark green dragon turned it's eyes on him. It snorted, and three of the dragons beside it, one a bright electric blue, one a deep velvet-like purple, and one a reddish shade of orange, dived straight for Mario and friends.

Mario instantly took a step backwards, and stepped into Luigi, who was frozen in fear. Peach pressed against Mario's other side for protection. Daisy's eyes blazed with anger at the two dragons hurtling toward the group. Surprisingly Tammy stood with them, curious of the centripetal forces that held the quartet together. Mario's gratitude nearly overwhelmed him that in spite that Tammy had told them to run and hide in terror, they had stood with him.

_Is this enough excitement for your summer?_ Mario asked himself

In moments the overgrown lizards were on them.

Huge jaws with fangs longer and larger than bananas snapped where Mario had been milliseconds before he moved backwards. Mario jumped to avoid a purple tail that swept Luigi off his feet. He looked over to see Peach and Daisy bravely standing up to the two other dragons, protecting Tammy, who cowered behind them.

With a sudden movement, The blue and red-orange reptiles looked up a moment before a yellow streak cannoned into the blue one and sent the whole dragon sliding backward fifty feet. At the same moment the red orange one lunged around Peach while she was distracted and grabbed Tammy.

Then suddenly Mario was airborne. While he was distracted a purple talon had flung him in the sky. Another purple flash at the edge of his vision prepared Mario for another strike, and then he was in someone's arms,bridal style. Mario hated being carried this way, or being carried at all really, but he realized what had caught him and instantly forgave the offender. A figure clad in a darker shade of purple armor gently placed him on a roof. He was at the very least six feet tall, although much closer to seven.

In the next instant he was gone, jumping high in the air. Mario watched to see where he went and why; but the reason revealed itself almost instantly.

The dark purple dragon was rising in the sky, with Luigi trapped in it's cruel talons. Mario was horrified, but overjoyed at the same time. The knight had the element of surprise on his side, Luigi would be saved. However the dragon whipped it's tail around and smacked the knight out of the sky. It soared up to rendezvous with it's brethren. With a nod of approval from the dark green dragon, the purple one flew off, in the same direction the maroon one did.

The purple knight hit the ground hard, but on his feet and immediately jumped down to join a thickening battle Three more dragons had joined the electric blue one. The reinforcements where all lashing out at Peach, while a yellow knight was doing his best to protect her. The blue dragon itself was trying to snap up Daisy, but Daisy would not let herself be caught. She kept twisting and weaving, and the purple knight joined the fray, and in an unspoken agreement, the two knights worked together against the three dragons to protect Peach. _They need my help too!_ Mario realized. He vaulted off the roof to use his crushing weight on one of the reinforcing dragon's skull. It howled in pain but didn't give up. Each of The two knights started fighting mainly one dragon and Peach did her best (which was surprisingly a lot) against the one going for Daisy. Mario continued to block the dragon's head he had landed on from snapping at Peach. It was an even fight, and it continued until Mario saw another dragon fly up to the dark green one hovering in the sky. It held another human in it's talons. A, female who was wiggling as if every god in the history of gods had possessed her. Instantly, Mario recognised the dragon as one of the ones that was hovering with the dark green one before, but had not dived down attacking his friends. Instead it had descended upon a different sector of the town.

After giving the signal for the other dragon with the writhing female in it's claws to fly away, the green one let out a mighty roar. Instantly the dragons Mario and co were fighting drew themselves up and flew to the dark green one's side. They joined a larger group of dragons, who once assembled, flew away as well. A few moments later a massive roar erupted from a blue-gray dragon, which was hovering high in the sky. Every last one of the beasts lifted into the skies and flew away.

"This is interesting." Said a voice. Mario realized it was coming from the purple knight.

"You three, are not in our database. You all must be registered, and you two," He said pointing to Mario and Peach, "should be enrolled, if is okay with you, of course."

* * *

Mario, Peach and Daisy followed the two knights back to Tammy's house, because they didn't really know where else to go. Daisy immediately packed her things. In a daze, Mario followed her lead. Peach did the same.

When all three had gotten back down stairs with their things they found the knights waiting for them at the kitchen table.

"That's good you're so ready to leave, but you haven't even chosen to go yet." The yellow one said.

"So what is this all about?" Daisy said sitting down.

"Them." Said the purple knight, pointing to Mario and Peach.

"Us?" Mario asked.

"You and her." Replied the yellow one."

"Their names are Mario and Peach." Daisy grumbled.

"Alright that's good to know." Said the purple one.

"Arent you going to tell us yours?" Daisy growled.

"As long as you're okay with us erasing your memory." The yellow one said.

"Yeah, I'm cool with that." Daisy grunted.

Reluctantly, they both took of their helmets. The one with purple armor had curly brown hair and green eyes. He looked around 21 and introduced himself as Hal. The yellow one was named Somerset and looked about eighteen. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"So what is this all about?" Daisy asked again.

"You already asked that." Somerset pointed out.

"But you barely explained anything!" Daisy whined.

"I thought you liked it when people were short sand to the point." Peach said.

"I wish we could take her too." Hal sighed.

"Such energy would have such use." Somerset agreed.

"Take who were?" Daisy yelled.

"Take Mario and Peach to the castle to become knights." Hal explained. "They have the ability to become heroes like us." He said, twiddling his thumbs. Mario realized all of the armor had completely disappeared.

"And I don't?" Daisy asked.

"That's why you said you wish you could take her energy." Peach realized. "It's not just a selection of who would be good and who wouldn't. You don't have a choice of who is 'capable' do you?"

Somerset nodded. "It's a biological impossibility for Daisy to become a knight, and to send a human into the line of fire, it just wouldn't end well."

There was something about the way she said human, as if she wasn't.

"And there is a biological possibility for us two?" Peach inquired.

"Yes." Hal answered, somewhat impatiently. "If you say yes, you come with us to the castle. You train there to fight dragons. We also offer an education and free room and board."

Daisy immediately perked up. "You two should go." She said firmly.

"But, we wouldn't leave you!" Peach said.

"I'll be fine." Daisy retorted. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes you are," Mario guessed. "You want us gone so you can go rescue Luigi undetected."

Daisy flinched. Mario knew he had guessed right.

"Absolutely not." Hal proclaimed.

Daisy huffed. "Is it really so bad if someone decided she wants to go rescue her love?"

"Yes it is." Somerset urged. "Without the enhanced physical abilities of a knight, you would be in real danger."

"She'll be fine." Mario stated. "I'm going with her."

"What!" Peach, Daisy and Hal yelled simultaneously.

"You said I could be a knight, and I want my brother back." Mario reasoned. "It's the logical decision."

"No really that's okay," Daisy began.

"Your brother is dead." Hal said.

"But he was only carried off." Daisy argued.

"People who are carried off are never seen or heard from again." Hal growled. "We must transfer all our energy into keeping those who remain safe. Any expeditions to the fortress are a waste of time and resources, even for the knights."

"So, what now? Should we go home?" Peach asked.

"Please, help us fight these beasts." Somerset pleaded. "Take revenge."

"I would like this." Daisy growled. Her spirit had been doused, but a passionate fire had sprung forth from dying embers. "Train long, train hard, take vengeance."

"I agree with Daisy." Mario said. "We should fight them, for him."

In truth, Mario had his own reasons for wanting to become a knight.

_I will not accept my brother's death until I have certain proof of his demise. Even if it means penetrating the dragon's lair by myself. I will find out the truth, if it's the last thing I do._


	3. Chapter 3

**It's been way too long since I've updated! Sorry about that...**

**Disclaimer: Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy belong to Nintendo**

The castle was absolutely huge. Mario could see that just from the gate to the property. A person who looked about eighteen leaned leisurely on the inside of the archway. He was not much taller than Mario, which wasn't saying much at all. The teen had green eyes that almost seemed to see through Mario, and longish brown hair. His nose twitched, possibly in disdain, as they approached.

"Welcome back," he said to Somerset and Hal.

The two knights now looked like two normal people, and just like Mario observed earlier, their armor really had disappeared altogether. So had their height. When Mario looked at Hal, he never would have guessed that he would have fit into a suit of armor that was so huge.

"Mario, Peach, this is Marvin." Somerset said.

"Sup,'" Marvin grunted.

Sommerset and Hal continued inside. Mario and Peach followed. As Mario passed he cast his eyes to the side suspiciously. Marvin's eyes connected with Mario's and he gave an intrigued grunt. Mario forced himself to look away from the lackadaisical figure.

While a typical castle would have a moat, this one had a courtyard that surrounded the whole establishment. Only, the barrier that separated the courtyard from the street encircled many other buildings as well; and even after that it continued for a good ten football fields before curving back upon itself.

"Why is the castle and all these other buildings blocked off from the street?" Peach asked.

"Oh right, actually we call the whole cluster of buildings the castle," Somerset said. "We only call it that because it's where the knights live and work. It used to be only the one," She said, gesturing to the weathered stone structure in front of them. "But it got too small, so they just kept adding buildings,"

"We'll show you around, and then to your rooms," Somerset told them. "Then the reception starts as six, and I'll walk you to the party."

"Reception?" Peach asked.

"Sure," Somerset replied lightheartedly. "We have to get to know you sometime right? Why not tonight?"

The 'castle' was beautiful. The lush green lawns were beautifully cut, and the campus even had some spots fields. All the buildings seemed to have a different purpose. There were dorms, a greenhouse, a whole rec building, a training facility, a vegetable garden, and grade A science labs. The gathering building was the largest, mostly because the party room and the cafeteria were under the same roof. Both of the facilities were meant to be able to house all the knights at the same time, and there clearly were a lot of knights.

"I can't believe they all pitch in at everything!" Peach said. "All the care involved in the property must cost a fortune otherwise,"

"It kind of reminds me how a family operates," Mario observed. "We all pitch in on house chores, and we all are rewarded by the food and a clean house,"

"Only this family is huge," Peach said, "and the scale this is done on seems almost like a utopia,"

"I hope it's not a utopia, or we will have quite a boring vacation," Mario grumbled.

_Meanwhile_

Luigi watched as Rachael paced back and forth around the edges of the dark dank cave tirelessly. She had dropped through the hole in the roof after Luigi had onto a weird, slightly soft, sweet-smelling rock that Luigi was lounging on. It was too high to jump to and only the most extreme boulderer would try climbing the walls, especially with no safety mats. Luigi and Rachael had tried to move the soft rock that they had landed on to use as a safety mat, but it was stuck to the floor of the cave.

"Stop pacing, or you'll wear a groove in the floor," Luigi said.

Rachael scowled but she didn't stop pacing. "They'll eat us up! We have to escape!" She insisted.

"Then why don't you go exploring like Michael and Tammy did?" Luigi asked, Pointing at the only exit to the cave. It was a tunnel that became pitch black farther down.

"There could be a 20 foot pit in front of you and you wouldn't know it," Rachael explained. "I'm not taking any chances."

"You could just listen for the echo," Luigi pointed out.

"You are as just as scared of the dark as I am, admit it." Rachel insisted.

"Okay, Im as just as scared of the dark as you are," Luigi said.

"I'm not scared of the dark!" Rachael snapped.

Luigi rolled his eyes.

A scream rolled through the cave from the direction of the off tunnel. It crashed over Rachel and Luigi like a wave, leaving them frozen in fear. Rushed footsteps pounded out from the blackness, echoing the rapid beating of Luigi's heart. Rachael slowly creeped backwards back the the rock that Luigi, now upright, sat on. Being directly under the the only light source offered little comfort, but it was more comfort than being anywhere else in the cave. The footsteps became louder, as the last echoes of the scream dissipated, retreating into the shadows at the edges of the cave. It didn't do much to reassure the two captives. It was now the footsteps that had seized them, that had enmeshed them in fear. And they only continued to grow louder.

Finally, Tammy and Michael burst into the room breathing heavily. Almost immediately after their appearance, Rachel jumped away from the rock and said "I wasn't scared."

"What happened, what did you find? What did you see? Is there a way out?" Luigi inquired.

"It's not a way out, is just leads to those blasted lizard's den," Tammy said. "We really are doomed."

"No! There has to be a way out!" Rachael insisted

"There isn't. We're going to be dinner,"Michel retorted.

"How can you be so sure?" Rachael persisted. Alligators can go for a month without eating, I bet these dragons could at least wait a week."

"It only will take a week without water," Luigi grumbled.

"Besides they're going to have us tonight," Michel said.

"How can you be so sure?" Rachel asked.

Tammy and Michael shared and uneasy glance.

"Because, they told us,"

**I hope you liked Luigi's POV, because he's not going to get another one! (for obvious reasons) Yeah... sorry about that**

**Thank you for taking time out of you day to read this, and comment if you comment. It really makes me feel, accepted.**


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